There is hardly a week that goes by that our Pompano Beach FL dental office isn’t counseling someone who is struggling with missing teeth … or that someone comes to us with failing teeth. We appreciate the responsible, as our office is a premier location for Pompano Beach residents looking to restore function and beauty to their smile.
The goal of any good dentist is to help you keep your natural teeth forever. But sometimes that just isn’t possible. Gum disease can ravage your smile and destroy your teeth. Or maybe years of neglect have made teeth impossible to save. Whatever the case, if you lose a tooth or have lost all of your teeth, you need to consider tooth replacement options.
When it comes to replacing teeth, there are bad options, good options, and great options. It all depends on your dental health goals and chewing healths. He are some of your options, listed from worst to best.
What to do when you lose teeth
BAD: Nothing.
Missing teeth are an eyesore. That’s obvious. No one wants to have gaps in their smile or entire arches of missing teeth. Your entire smile and face change when you lose the teeth, and the problem is far more serious than simple cosmetics. Without your teeth, you cannot get the nutrition you need. Of course, nutrition is directly linked to your overall health. Charles Mayo, the co-founder of the Mayo Clinic knew about the importance of teeth in the early 1900s. He maintained that people living without teeth can live an average of 10 years less than people who have teeth. Years later, scientists and researchers agree.
Additionally, when the teeth are lost, the jawbone will recede. The physical change can happen within a few months of losing the teeth. This causes people to have a sunken-in look, as the vertical height between the nose and chin is lost. People without teeth will also develop wrinkles around the mouth. So, not only can having no teeth shave years off your life — but you’ll also look older.
GOOD: Dental bridges, dentures
People have been using dental bridges and dentures for hundreds of years. These were the first ways to replace teeth, and they worked well for many years. A dental bridge consists of a series of dental crowns that literally bridges the gap caused by the missing tooth. To place the dental bridge, we need to shave down the tooth in front of the space and behind the missing tooth. Then we design a series of crowns and place the bridges.
Traditional dentures sit on the gums. The upper dentures is held in by suction, while the bottom denture sits on the gums. Today we have materials to make dentures lifelike and more function than ever before. We carefully aligned the dentures for optimal support and to cut down on potential denture sores.  
While bridges and dentures are acceptable tooth replacement options, they still come with some problems. Placing a bridge requires us to shave down teeth — even if those teeth are free of cavities. And when it comes to removable dentures, the appliances often slip and slide around in the mouth. Dentures move because the jawbone will change shape once the teeth are lost. As the jawbone recedes, the denture fit is changed. This makes it difficult to get support while eating, and the dentures will often slide around in the mouth while you chew and speak.
GREAT: Dental implants
Dental implants are the strongest tooth replacement option available in dentistry. They can be used to replace single teeth, to support bridges, secure dentures, or to give you a full mouth of permanent teeth. Dental implants nearly match the power of your natural teeth, and we have a variety of options for you.
We can restore dental implants with dentures you can remove, or we can restore your dental implants with teeth that cannot be removed.
All-on-4 and All-on-6 dental implants are great for patients who don’t want to worry about taking their teeth in and out of their mouth. These dental implants give patients total stability. As an added bonus, the upper replacement arch leaves the palate open. This may seem like a small benefit, but it gives you more tastes and more sensation. This is huge for patients who have struggled with removable dentures for years!
Restore your mouth today!
There are a variety of ways in which we can replace your missing teeth. It’s all about your oral health  goals. But just know that you can restore function and beauty to your mouth. Even if you have removable dentures and no remaining teeth, we can use dental implants to give you stability nearly equal to natural teeth. Our hope is that you don’t let missing teeth derail your life. You can find options worth pursuing at our office. Just give us a call today at 954-590-0538.